The WDR logo can be seen from afar on one of its 9 main buildings above the North-South route in Cologne.
The WDR, a broadcasting company of the ARD, has been making radio and television history since 1956.
11 years earlier, until the end of 1955, the WDR operated with today’s NDR under the umbrella of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR).
It was the broadcasting company for the entire British occupation zone.
From January 1, 1956, the division into WDR and NDR.
At first there were 3 radio programs with different target groups. From 1984, WDR4 and in 1991 WDR 5 were added as additional radio programs.
On April 1, 1995, 1Live was born, the more modern successor to WDR1.
For the ARD, there were initially only contributions to the joint program.
At the end of 1965, the WDR started its own third television program.
Well-known WDR programs and productions that have had a regular place on German television for decades include “Die Sendung mit der Maus”, but more on that later.
But the “ARD-Sportschau” and “Lindenstraße” are also or were crowd-pullers for the WDR.
Most productions take place in Cologne city center and in the studios in Cologne-Bocklemünd. There are also regional studios in all major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The WDR also serves the ARD capital studio in Berlin and also maintains foreign studios in all major and politically relevant world cities.
The WDR can also be proud of its musical “orchestras”, such as the WDR Symphony Orchestra and the Cologne Radio Choir.
With 4,300 employees (2020), the WDR is the largest broadcaster in the ARD and the second largest broadcaster in Europe.
Find out more about the history of the WDR here first hand.
Now we’re going to pay the “Maus” a visit, just a few meters from here.
